Villarreal dent Liverpool's Euro hopes

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Cape Town - Adrian Lopez's stoppage-time winner put Villarreal on the verge of reaching their first ever Cup final with a 1-0 win over Liverpool in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday.

A game of few chances was decided by a brilliant goal at the death as Denis Suarez unselfishly squared for substitute Lopez to tap home from close range.

Roberto Firmino fired Liverpool's best chance against the post in the second-half as Jurgen Klopp's men now need another famous European comeback at Anfield to reach the final in Basel on May 18.

Sevilla are well-placed to reach a third consecutive Europa League final as they drew 2-2 away at Shakhtar Donetsk in the other semi-final.

Klopp was left frustrated at the manner at which Liverpool conceded late on having been seconds away from a creditable draw that would have given them the upper hand heading into the return leg.

"Of course I'm not too happy with the goal we conceded in the last second," Klopp told BT Sport.

"A counter-attack in the 92nd minute doesn't make too much sense to be honest, but it's only the first leg. We had no luck today and they know how strong we are at Anfield."

However, Villarreal boss Marcelino claimed his side were more than deserving winners.

"I am tremendously proud of this squad and we are closer to the final, still far away, but closer than we were in the 88th minute," he told BeIN Sports Spain.

"It is very important to beat a team like Liverpool and, moreover, deservedly so."

The 96 Liverpool fans who died at the Hillsborough tragedy 27 years ago were remembered before kick-off days after the biggest inquest in English legal history found they had been unlawfully killed.

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